A 16th century bronze Nataraja idol, which was stolen from Kallidaikurichi temple, Tirunelveli, in 1982, is set to be repatriated soon.
In this regard, Australian authorities have met Indian officials and discussed the modalities for repatriation.
The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) Foundation acquired the 75.7 cm bronze idol from Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Limited in 2001. After deaccession of the artwork recently, the AGSA said it followed standard protocols for its acquisition that were widely accepted as professionally rigorous in 2001.
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Following the 2014-16 revision of the AGSA Due Diligence Policy, the curator, Asian Art, commenced provenance research on the dancing Siva idol although there had been no prior indication or reason to assume that the statue had been improperly acquired.
In September 2016, during research in the French Institute of Pondicherry archives, the curator identified a 1958 photograph of the Nataraja paired with a statue of the consort goddess Sivakamisundari at the Sri Kulasekaramudayan Temple, Kallidaikurichi.
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The next year, the curator travelled to Kallidaikurichi and met the temple priest who was able to identify the Nataraja idol as formerly being in the temple’s possession.
Special officer of Idol Wing and former Inspector General of Police A.G. Ponn Manickavel sent a copy of the FIR report to AGSA with a formal request for the statue’s repatriation from the High Commission of India, Canberra.
The officials from both sides met in New Delhi and discussed the process for repatriation of the statue as soon as possible. The idol may be returned at the end of this month, said sources in the Idol Wing.
“It has been five years since we first raised questions on this bronze to the AGNSA and finally they are returning it to India. However India should take up with the original seller m/s Forge and Lynch of London to reveal the detailed provenance papers as there are still a number of bronzes stolen from the same temple that are still missing,” said S. Vijaya Kumar, art enthusiast and founder of India Pride.